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Abbas Affirms to Blinken ‘Full Rejection’ of Gaza Displacement, Warns of ‘Second Nakba’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)
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Abbas Affirms to Blinken ‘Full Rejection’ of Gaza Displacement, Warns of ‘Second Nakba’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (dpa)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday warned against a “second Nakba” catastrophe facing Palestinians after the Jewish state ordered the evacuation of north Gaza amid the ongoing Hamas-Israel war.

We “completely reject the displacement of our people from the Gaza Strip, because it will be tantamount to a second Nakba for our people,” he said during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman, according to a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The Nakba, or “catastrophe,” refers to some 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 war that coincided with Israel’s creation.

His remarks came after Israel ordered the Gaza Strip residents to flee from the north, an area home to some 1.1 million people. The UN warned of this order’s "devastating humanitarian consequences."

This order concurs with the seventh day of the war between the Jewish state and the “Hamas” movement and the increased possibility of a ground invasion of the besieged Strip.

The Strip has been under the control of the Movement since 2007 when the latter expelled the Palestinian Authority from it by force.

Israel's military warned residents of Gaza City on Friday morning that they had to leave the city and head into the southern half of the Gaza Strip, affirming that they would not be allowed to return before another statement was issued.

Hamas rejected the orders to evacuate the north of the Strip that continues to be shelled by Israel.

The Movement said that the Palestinians reject the threat of the occupation leaders and their calls on them in Gaza to leave their homes and move to the south or to Egypt. “We are steadfast on our land, in our homes, and in our cities... and there will be no displacement or deportation.”

There have been repeated calls for opening humanitarian corridors before the potential ground invasion by Israel, especially through the Rafah Border Crossing.

Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on Thursday urged Gazans to "stay steadfast and remain on their land," warning that the displacement of Gaza residents ends the Palestinian cause.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.